Reward Sensitivity Enhances Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Activation during Free Choice
Catherine Cho1, David V Smith2, Mauricio R Delgado1
1Department of Psychology, Rutgers University Newark, NJ, USA.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
|December 6, 2016
Summary
Individuals with high reward sensitivity show distinct brain activity during free choices. Their ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) connectivity increases with other brain regions, suggesting attentional control supports goal-directed behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Voluntary choices are more rewarding than forced ones.
- Reward sensitivity, influenced by the dopamine system, affects responses to rewards.
- The neural basis of how reward sensitivity impacts free vs. forced choices remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how individual differences in reward sensitivity influence neural activity during free and forced choices.
- To identify specific brain regions and their connectivity patterns associated with reward sensitivity during decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed a decision-making task with free and forced choice trials inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner.
- Reward sensitivity was assessed, and brain activity was analyzed using the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) as a seed for psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis.
Main Results:
- Individuals with high reward sensitivity exhibited greater ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activation during free choice compared to forced choice.
- Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis revealed increased VLPFC connectivity with the posterior cingulate and precentral gyrus in reward-sensitive individuals during free choice.
Conclusions:
- Reward sensitivity is associated with distinct neural mechanisms during free choice, particularly involving the VLPFC.
- These findings suggest that attentional control processes, mediated by VLPFC connectivity, may support goal-directed behavior and action selection in reward-sensitive individuals.
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